High school baseball: St. Francis rolls over Bellarmine 11-0

MOUNTAIN VIEW -- The St. Francis baseball team is on such a roll that it certainly doesn't need help from an opponent.

But in what was supposed to be a West Catholic Athletic League showdown Tuesday between two of the area's top programs, visiting Bellarmine did its share of giving.

A handful of defensive breakdowns and two baserunning mistakes turned a tight game into a rout as St. Francis cruised to an 11-0 victory.

The Lancers, ranked No. 11 nationally by MaxPreps, got five scoreless innings from left-hander John Gavin, a home run from Austin Guibor and a two-run triple from Kort Peterson. But they also took advantage of Bellarmine's miscues.

"I told these guys from here on out expect to play as if every game is going to be a one-run game," St. Francis coach Mike Oakland said after his team improved to 18-1 overall and 5-1 in the WCAL.

"This doesn't normally happen. I don't think we are 11 runs better than Bellarmine. I just think that didn't play enough catch today, and if they had played better catch it would have been a lot tighter game."

The afternoon started a little shaky for St. Francis as Gavin hit Joey Persons, the game's first batter. But catcher Tim Susnara quickly erased the mistake by throwing a rocket to first to pick off the Bellarmine runner.

Gavin then struck out the next batter on a change-up and struck out all three batters in the second inning after Guibor had given him a 1-0 lead when he launched a home run over the right-field fence.

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"I felt like I had to get some jitters out," Gavin said. "That was really nice that Tim came out and got that guy. It was almost like it didn't happen. I was able to get a clean slate, which was awesome."

Gavin finished with seven strikeouts while improving to 7-0. He allowed only one hit, a fourth-inning leadoff double by Jake Whipple, but picked him off second a short time later to keep Bellarmine (13-5, 3-3) behind 2-0.

"John's throwing really well," Susnara said. "We were in the bullpen earlier, and he was a little shaky there. But we calmed his nerves down because it's a big game, rivalry, Bell. Everything about that. We told him, 'Hey, calm down, just throw strikes. Let them hit you, and we'll adjust to that.'"

St. Francis added three runs in the fourth and broke the game open with six in the fifth.

The victory stretched St. Francis' winning streak to six games and kept the Lancers in a first-place tie with Serra in the WCAL. Serra beat St. Francis on March 22, overcoming an 8-1 deficit to win 10-9 in San Mateo. The teams play at St. Francis on April 26.

"I think our guys are doing a really good job in practice of trying to get better -- not being satisfied with where they are," Oakland said. "That's one of our biggest mottos -- humility, trying to work really hard every day. It doesn't matter if you're the guy who starts or not starts, pitches all the time or doesn't pitch, just trying to get better. It's really hard because you're 18-1, and it's easy to say, 'We're doing great, just shut it down.' They haven't done that yet, and hopefully they won't."

Susnara said this team seems special.

"This team, it's awesome," he said. "I was on varsity last year, and we were good, but we missed something, You felt that going on into the year, and it felt different. But this team, the camaraderie is just amazing. We all play together as a team. If something happens outside of school, we're on each other to get that done -- schoolwork, whatever it is. On and off the field, we're always together. That really helps out coming onto the field."

Tuesday, with a some help from its rival, the winning continued for St. Francis.